 Each year people gather in a cave in Zugarramurdi, Spain, to celebrate
the summer solstice. It’s no ordinary summer solstice cave festival
however, not that I can think of any others. Nope. It’s a commemoration
to the witches “that used the cave,” many of whom were burnt alive
during the Basque witch trials.
he cave has no electric illumination system and light comes from
blazing torches and fires. The summer solstice has a mystical and
religious significance to some people and for many it is a simple
motive for celebration.
The custom has been honored for hundreds of years, even during the
merciless times of Spanish Inquisition. If caught performing these
“pagan rituals,” the revelers would be subject to terrifying
punishments and even death. Heretics and witches were hunted down by
the Spanish Inquisition in an effort to annihilate everything which
might look unchristian.
At the beginning of the 17th century the Basque population of
Zuarramurdi was living in desperation. Any number of them could have
been charged with heresy and witchcraft (even the children). They
therefore kept a low profile and prayed for their lives.
The Supreme Inquisition, a Roman Catholic council, even sent one of
their members Don Juan Valle Alvarado to investigate possible
witchcraft and heresy in Zugarramurdi. After months of following clues
and rumors he found 300 suspects, of which roughly forty were sent for
trial in Logrono. Notwithstanding this, the result didn’t satisfy the
Church’s paranoia.
In 1611, Alonso de Salazar Frias, began to hunt down “witches” and
heretics in the countryside near the vicinity of Zugarramurdi and was
given special instructions to the cave, as it was popularly believed to
be the meeting place of the witches. During this horrific campaign,
2000 people confessed under torture, of those over 1,300 were children
aged seven to fourteen. Yet this campaign did not diminish the spirit
of the Basque witches.
The cave near Zugarramurdi is now host to an annual festival to celebrate the longest day of the year.
Article via Environmental news
Photo via National Geographic
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